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Journaling is your journey and relationship with your inner self. How your life is and what mindset you have at the present moment.
It is an art in the form of self-expression through writing. Writing is one way of therapy, especially with past trauma and depression.
Journaling is self-care.
Maybe, you had a diary with a lock and key when you were in high school. I had. I had written some hard kept secrets; unfortunately, I lost it.
Remember how you started your daily journal with Dear Diary?
It was like talking to an imaginary friend. We could have commenced the confessions with Hi Joy! Or Dear Angel or Hello Self, but why Dear Diary? It seemed we had fallen victim to the highly commercialized Diary.
You might have kept your journals or scrapbook with you up until now.
Whether journaling is not foreign to you, why you’re here tells me that you need a little nudge.
You can always start again with your past and how you get here, but the best journal, especially for a beginner, starts with the present moment. Your Now. What are you feeling right now? Your fears. Your triumph.
What is your area of focus?
Career?
Money?
Relationship?
Self-love?
Confidence?
You can always start with your journal. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but you can create some design with an ordinary notebook if you have the talent and time.
You can even have a daily journal through scrapbooking or painting.
My daughter does watercolor painting every day, and she was not aware that it’s also a way of channeling the energy that builds inside her.
I will be sharing some of her works next time.
Today, I will be talking about the Daily Journal.
What works for me is one strong affirmation daily, like I do it at the start of my day and record an accomplishment on my journal, even how small it may be.
Here are ten tips for creating a habit of journaling:
1) Start with your most significant WHY.
Why you hustle?
Why do you wake up every morning?
When you have your why, ask another level of why and a notch deeper to truly uncover your greatest why of all.
Like, write why you are making all these sacrifices? Why? Because you want to have your own house. Yes, everybody wants that, but why? Because you have never lived in your own home before, you were always living with a relative. That’s better, but why? Because you want your future kids to experience the comfort of your own home, for them not to feel like a transient or unwelcome. Isn’t that powerful?
Hey! You are writing!
2) Always carry your journal with you.
It doesn’t have to be expensive; it can be a small sketch pad that can continuously remind you to write or draw.
You can have a small notebook that fits your bag or just a notepad then transfer what you’ve written in your worksheet once you have the kick to do so. But if that note you hold dear gives you comfort and therapy, then. Keep doing that.
3) Unload your mind from too many thoughts.
Write in bullets; it is best to keep your entries short.
Contrary to how you started with your why you can write in bullets or numbers.
Sometimes it is easier to write in just simple words or phrases rather than long forms.
At times, you feel like your toxicity is cutthroat, and you feel like giving up but find paper and pen then write those activities that crowd your mind. Maybe they’re just 5 or 6 or probably less. As you have put it in writing, you’ll realize they’re not even 20 to get suffocated with.
Now you can see what to prioritize.
4) Date every entry you put on your journal.
Let’s be honest there are days that you will not be in your element to write in your journal, but our goal here is to prompt you to write every day.
If you are using the worksheet, you have to provide the date on the date entry. You can always customize whatever affirmation resonates with how you feel according to your need.
5) Write fast.
At times, what you write without much thought is your subconscious talking, then read again.
Maybe you have done that before, and once you re-read, you will be amazed at how you have written those words.
Yes, you might not be writing like a pro, but you can always write. And not to mention it’s therapeutics.
6) Write, thank you for a starter.
If you are staring at the blank sheet or the blinking cursor, you might be having the writer’s block; start with writing: Thank you.
From there, feel the genuine gratitude inside you and think of those things you are grateful for.
Is it that hard?
You opened those two eyes this morning; that’s one great blessing.
Thank you!
7) Writing prompt.
If you are a newbie writer, this is an excellent exercise to write, write, and write.
Check this blog for 30 writing prompts.
Or somebody who is trying to navigate a freelance writing career. Or probably you have been accepted in a post where it requires you to write.
Journaling is the right way for you to practice and hone that skill.
Practice makes permanent, and journaling is one good training ground.
8) Do not penalize yourself to write.
You are already heading to adulting, welcome!
It’s good to have a journal to track your progress and set goals.
Most often than not, you say you have your goals but is it really in alignment with what you truly love doing?
Journaling can help you see where you’re at and where you are heading or vent out when your goals overwhelm you.
9) Journaling as therapy.
As I have mentioned above, at times, you feel you want to give up because you are stressed out, burned out, or worst, depressed; writing down your thoughts will help you ease your mind out.
If you feel your world is constricted, try to put those factors that bother you on paper, and you would see they are not daunting at all.
You do not need to create a blog.
Just follow the tips stated above, and you will never go wrong.
10) Use the attached worksheet.
It has 31 daily affirmations; you can customize according to what commitment reverberates with you on that specific date.
Get your free worksheet here.
Later before you go to bed, you can think of an accomplishment you made for the day and write it down.
It doesn’t have to be grand as long as you feel fulfilled and happy.
There are plenty of ways to keep track of your activities, but it is best if you focus on affirmation or gratitude every day.
I will be talking more about these two in my next blogs.
Maybe create a mini-course on gratitude.
Hope to hear from you.
Much love,
Shell
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